To Melt The Frozen Rose
by Karliah357
Summary: Karla moves to Forget-Me-Not Valley and finds herself falling for a mysterious thief, but will this new adventure be the death of her? Rating just to be safe, first story and all. SkyexOC
1. Black Shadows

**Chapter 1**

**Black Shadows**

"…Wake up…"

Karla's eyes shot open as a familiar voice pierced her lazy dreams, causing her to shoot forward in bed to investigate the intruder.

"Oh good, you're awake." The black clad figure said with mock enthusiasm. "You have a letter from the Harvest King. Read it."

Karla snatched it from her hand and glanced at it before angrily crumpling it to throw at the little Witch. "Is this some kind of sick joke? Do you really think I believe your crap?!"

The Witch ignored her, pacing slowly around her home. "It's going to be lonely now that I have nobody to argue with. Anyway, work very hard. I'm counting on-"

She paused as she was roughly spun around by an enraged gloved hand griping her shoulder painfully. "I told you" she ground out between her teeth, "I don't believe this crap!"

"Oh? Poor little Karla. Poor saucy, little strumpet. You don't believe people are hurting because of your stubborn self-centered personality? Or did you forget your mother struggling to raise your sister in Highwater Falls and your dear old daddy rotting in the swamps?"

That was the last straw. Fighting back the rising fear and sense of self-preservation Karla lurched forward and took the Witch to the ground, getting one good solid punch in before her eyes turned a deep serpent-like crimson and her body flopped to the side. She laid there on the ground struggling for breath and movement outside of the invisible source of constriction as the Witch, sporting the shining beginnings of a black eye, hovered over her menacingly.

"If I really wanted to, I could kill you now. I could bring down upon you disease that would rack you with pain and make it so you will never find happiness in this life you insolent child. However…" A smile that sent cold, clammy chills radiating up her spine crossed the woman's face. "…you may be an…interesting hobby to occupy me while I wait for my usual sport to return."

Karla had always been afraid of the Witch Princess. She was mean and nasty to everyone who crossed her, and loved to torment the sprites when they were commissioned by her. Her reputation kept people away from her, and it seemed the only people who could freely communicate with her were those who resided at the Villa. The villagers loved rumors, and Karla had heard all about the theory that Romana had taken in an orphan when she was younger, and that child turned out to be the Witch, and how she couldn't mess with the Villa inhabitants because she owed Romana her life. She also heard she had been a starving traveler, a story with the same continuation. Nobody really knew though, and frankly Karla didn't want to know. All she needed to know was to stay away, a personal order that had kept her away from the Villa since she moved to the Valley.

She now fully understood just how justified those fears were. A tussle with the Witch could have meant death or worse, and she realized as the invisible coil loosened just how lucky she was that the Witch had decided she would be entertaining to keep alive.

Karla sighed in relief and sat up, finally yielding to her situation. "Ok…fine…I'll rescue the stupid sprites and the Harvest Goddess…" and with an added shot of anger from her wounded pride, "…Now get off of my property and don't come back."

The Witch simply smiled and bowed, then with a wispy flick of her gauzy cloak she was out the door, and vanished into the morning sunlight with her tingling laugh hanging hauntingly in the air behind her.

"I guess I should get to work then…ugh…why couldn't mom have picked some other personal Hell to throw me into?" she groaned as she fished a watering can and hoe from her toolbox. "Maybe somewhere colder."

Over a month had passed since Karla had fought with the Witch. She wasn't doing half bad for an amateur farmer. Her crops were thriving, her living condition had improved some (she actually had a table now), and she had even managed to order a barn from Gotz with money she had made from the Dig Sight. Flora had become a good friend of hers during the long hours of digging and she found that she actually discovered something she enjoyed. Yes, everything was going smoothly. At least, until she lost her horse. That resulted in a frantic afternoon of searching that extended well into the night until Takakura ran into her and mentioned he stabled her horse when he found it grazing on her strawberry bushes. Truthfully, not having a horse wasn't that big of a deal. Guts had given her a teleportation necklace when she finally agreed to work, and it had made a world of difference to her. She had searched so furiously because said horse had been a gift from Takakura and her Mother, and she loved it dearly as more of a pet than anything. The horse and the hours with Flora at the Dig Site made living in the Valley tolerable.

After the news she reached into her shirt to find the long golden chain the pink teleportation stone dangling from in order to return home, and realized with an angry groan she had been so side tracked by the horse she forgot to put it on after her bath. Sighing she began the long walk home, finally passing the Inner Inn well after the sun had set. During the walk she had been wishing for something more interesting than just losing a horse to happen for once.

She didn't have long to wait.

She stopped short and ducked behind a large potted plant outside the Inn as someone went creeping through the woods between her farm and the residential houses, skulking through the shadows noiselessly headed towards the Villa.

A grin spread widely across Karla's face. 'Finally something interesting!' she thought, following him through the shadows to the entrance of the Villa grounds. There she hesitated, wondering if a possible encounter with that horrifying excuse of a human outweighed the possibility of finally having an adventure. She stood there for a few minutes debating until she realized she lost track of the shadowy figure, and recklessly burst into the fountain area of the enormous estate trying to locate them. Confusion crossed her face as she scanned the area trying to find anything indicating she hadn't been seeing things.

She was just about to give up and leave when someone exited the house. The moon and stars reflected just enough light for her to take in this knew person, someone she hadn't seen in the Valley before now which was incredibly odd considering she could count the Valleys inhabitants by name in her head within seconds.

He had long, straight silver hair that graced his squared shoulders with soft brisk movements as he moved fluidly from the Villa's front door like waves rolling on the sea. The movement from his steps sent a wave to his hips, up his back in a way that created a never ending graceful and confident strut. He looked around with huge, sparkling sharp green eyes that seemed to take in everything around him like two hypnotic, green tinted black holes. As for clothes, he was casually dressed in flip flops and baggy charcoal pants with a white dress shirt over a black tank, an expensive looking silver pendant laying gently in the indention of his throat. Yes, this man was just the interesting thing she had been hoping to find, and it helped he was incredibly handsome.

He rounded the fountain and caught sight of her evaluating him, and a look of surprise flashed across those large confident eyes before he grinned and strolled towards her with a look that made her heart pound in her chest. He gave a low, small laugh and smiled at her. "Hello beautiful. Walking alone at night? I'm quite the ladies' man, and a prince of the stars."

Karla immediately stopped smiling at him. Great, the first attractive man she managed to encounter turned out to be a freaking womanizer. As much as she wanted someone to liven up her dreary farming life, she still had standards. This guy obviously slathered it on thick for women.

Suddenly a scream and shuffling from the Villa snapped their heads to the door, where an unhappy looking Lumina was huffing in the doorway glaring daggers at the silver man. "Hey! Aren't you that famous thief who warns his victims ahead of time?!" she yelled, pointing an accusatory finger at him.

Karla's head snapped towards him and she took a step back, unsure of how dangerous this fox may be. He threw a smile at her before turning back to Lumina. "Sorry, but I'm a bit pressed for time. I'm about to jet out." He turned and strolled away, turning back to Karla momentarily with another one of those pretty boy fake smiles. "Call me Phantom Skye. I have a feeling we'll meet again. It's in the stars."

Karla merely rolled her eyes with a scoff, which seemed to genuinely take him off guard. 'Great. He's not only a womanizer, but he thinks he's the god of love and looks shocked I'm not falling for his spell. What a loser.' Lumina interrupted her thoughts by shouting "Wait right there!" to him, hurrying to Karla's side in an effort to potentially apprehend the acclaimed robber.

He tilted his head slightly at her. "Hold up, beautiful. Don't let such raw anger steal away your beauty."

Lumina's attitude flipped, a deep blush flushing over her features. "What a smooth talker…Phantom Skye…" she giggled like a little girl.

Karla's jaw dropped at her. "Lumina? Hey! Snap out of it! He just robbed you! Lumina?"

By the time Lumina stopped swooning Skye had vanished again. "Phantom Skye! He…he got away from me!"

"That's what usually happens when you sit there drooling over someone instead of acting…" Karla trailed off dryly. Did that seriously just happen? She shook her head at Lumina's behavior. She left her there and decided to follow the thief herself, trailing through the darkness in the direction of the Valley's path to Mineral Town. Maybe she could try and head him off there…


	2. The Mystery Girl

**Chapter 2**

**The Mystery Girl**

Karla spotted Skye on the bridge as she broke the tree line, and decided that her curiosity was just too much to apprehend him. She shadowed him out of the Valley, followed him off into the woods outside of Mineral Town making sure he didn't notice her presence at all. She was determined to find out all she could about the "Mysterious thief" as possible, considering this had to be the most adventure she would be having for a while. May as well go all out and savor it, even though she felt ready to pass out and sleep among the trees and it had to have been around 3 a.m. when she finally managed to shadow him all the way to his home.

Shock wasn't a strong enough word to describe what she saw. He was practically living in a shack out in the forest; it must have been a dilapidated and leaking abandoned cottage that had long been forgotten after its former tenants left. She carefully sneaked to the window, peaking through the dirty glass into an equally dingy living space. It became painfully obvious that whatever he was stealing wasn't nearly enough to support himself. She was considerably better off than he was, and he had what should have been a better cash flow.

His house had little more inside than a raggedy bed, a dirty couch in front of a low warped wooden table, and a surprising well-kept kitchenette. Out of everything, the kitchen was the only thing even remotely expensive looking. She watched him pour his winnings onto the table a look them over, pieces of jewelry even Karla could tell wouldn't sell for much. She watched a bit longer before teleporting home, deciding she had taken an interest in this thief and began formulating a plan as she finally collapsed into the bed. She thought of the handsome thief (ignoring every word he ever spoke of course, he was much too handsome to let his womanizing interfere with her fantasizing) and she drifted off into a sweet dream about a little brown dog and a silver fox playing in a lush field of flowers bellow the stars.

The next couple of days Karla monitored the thief's movements, noticing he had a tendency to visit the Valley late at night when everyone else was asleep. She decided one night to wait for him at the mouth of the Valley in a shadowy clump of trees that managed to hide someone from view wonderfully thoroughly if they stayed silent.

This is how she managed to be the first person to get the jump on Skye in a very long time. He leisurely strolled into the Valley and had to suppress a yelp when Karla stepped out of the shadows with a huge grin lighting up her face. "The stars were right I guess." She laughed, enjoying the look of pure surprise making his eyes and mouth gape open like a freshly caught fish.

He barely managed to regain his composure, looking her over and recognizing her as the new farmer he met at the Villa. He had scoped her farm once, but decided she had to be too poor to have anything worth stealing.

The farm may have been worth nothing, but looking at this girl he realized he just lost his claim on the title mysterious. She was dressed differently, wearing only capris and a sunshine yellow tank top with white sandals. Besides that she had nothing else, so the meeting hadn't been by chance… she had planned it. That made him extremely uncomfortable.

"How did you know I'd be here?" His eyes narrowed slightly at her.

"If I told you that then keeping it a secret wouldn't be much fun anymore." She said as she playfully placed a finger over her lips.

"Mysterious girl" he mused "what do you want with me?"

"I want you to stop plundering the Valley."

Skye opened his mouth to say something, but she cut him off.

"I'll pay you. Thieves have to eat too I realize."

His jaw snapped shut at that. He seemed to think it over for a while before finally nodding his head.

"1,000 gold a day?"

"Deal."

"I'll make it easy for you, don't bother coming when it rains or during a holiday. Not the day after either mind you."

"Sounds fair to me."

The two shook on it, and Skye smiled. "So I'll see you on the next fair weathered day beautiful?"

She rolled her eyes at him. "Yep. 10 sharp, don't be late."

He looked up at the stars and prepared a cheesy comment, looking back to find only empty space in all directions.

Mysterious girl indeed…maybe too mysterious…

The next couple months flew by systematically. Every night at ten she was there in the shadows with something from the Dig Sight. She knew she could get a good 3,000 gold from Van for the things she was giving him, but she didn't care. He needed it, and she found herself oddly concerned for the silver man. He just assumed she didn't know the worth, and chastised himself for living off of her ignorance.

That is, until he learned an interesting bit of information in Mineral Town. A couple years prior Skye had made a deal with Gregory, the owner of Pa's Pawn & Jewelry Shop and an extremely shady guy, so he would have a place to sell his stolen goods whenever he needed. One afternoon while he was pawning a necklace and two pairs of earrings he received as payment Van made a late and unexpected stop at the store. Skye, hiding in the back room, overheard the conversation between the two.

"Van every time you come by you bring more jewelry and less money than ever."

"Bah it's that Karla girl, at this rate she should become a traveling trader. She knows what she's doing Greg, I can never squeeze a bargain out of her. It's full price or nothing with her."

"Maybe you're losing your touch eh?"

"Ha! No, but I think I have finally met my business match."

Skye narrowed his eyes at the jewelry in his hands and thought carefully about his next move. He hated the situation more than ever, and resolved he would find out exactly what her game was at their next meeting. He was supposed to be the most mysterious person, not some country bumpkin. Even if she was extremely cute with her bright, intelligent blue eyes and long swaying brown locks…

Skye shook his head. It's never good to think too much about a pretty girl, especially one who may be as dangerous as her.


End file.
